E.U. Approves Step Toward Serbian Membership

By STEPHEN CASTLE

Published: June 15, 2010

LUXEMBOURG -- Serbia on Monday took an important step toward membership in the European Union as the bloc approved a cooperation deal with country, overriding earlier calls for more to be done to track down a Bosnian Serb fugitive accused of genocide.

Until Monday, the Netherlands had blocked moves to implement the deal, known as the Stabilization and Association Agreement, which is widely seen as a first step toward E.U. membership.

The decision to show flexibility toward Serbia reflects the growing concern among European policy makers about stability in the Balkans.

Given Serbia's importance in the region, the bloc now seems willing to adopt a more pragmatic approach to support the country's aspirations to join the European Union.

''There is a general welcome for the fact that Serbia has turned in a European direction,'' said the British foreign secretary, William Hague. ''We want to encourage that and we want that to continue,'' though he added that ''Serbia has not completed its task yet.''

The move comes despite the fact that Ratko Mladic, a former Bosnian Serb military commander, is still a fugitive.

The United Nations war crimes tribunal has indicted Mr. Mladic on genocide charges, alleging that he was the chief planner and organizer of the 1995 massacre at Srebrenica, in which nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys lost their lives in the worst mass killing on European soil since World War II.

The Netherlands is particularly sensitive to this issue because lightly armed Dutch U.N. peacekeepers failed to prevent the killings.

Also, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, where war crimes trials have been held, is based in The Hague.

At the Monday meeting of E.U. foreign ministers, Serge Brammertz, chief prosecutor for the tribunal, said that Serbia was continuing to cooperate, according to Catherine Ashton, the bloc's foreign policy chief.

The Dutch had blocked further progress on the agreement since it was signed in 2008, demanding either the arrest of Mr. Mladic or a verdict from Mr. Brammertz that Belgrade had provided full cooperation.

Though neither of those two conditions have been met, the Dutch foreign minister, Maxime Verhagen, said that this was only the start of Serbia's path toward E.U. membership and that there were 147 further steps that could be blocked.

The decision to offer the deal to Serbia had already been agreed to in principle, but needs to be formally ratified by all 27 national governments. On Monday, E.U. foreign ministers finally agreed to take that step.

But Mr. Verhagen said he had prevented Serbia from taking the next step on the long, cumbersome procedure toward membership.

That involves E.U. governments asking the bloc's executive body, the European Commission, for a formal assessment of whether Serbia is ready to start talks.

By not taking this step, E.U. ministers kept an important element of leverage over Serbian reaction when the International Court of Justice rules on the legality of Kosovo's independence, said one E.U. diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. That ruling could take place as soon as next month.

Mr. Hague, the British foreign secretary, described the action Monday as an ''important step forward,'' and underlined the need to reinforce Serbia's European aspirations.

However, he added that cooperation with the war crimes tribunal had not yet yielded sufficient results.

Under the Stabilization and Association process, the European Union establishes special relations with countries that undertake to make reforms and align their laws with European legislation. The bloc also provides trade concessions and provides financing.

The change of heart from the government in the Netherlands was first signaled six months ago, and took place despite elections last week that have left the country with a caretaker administration.